Axially reciprocating ink roller mechanism



Aug. 25, 1964 M. SCHWARTZ AXIALLY RECIPROCATING INK ROLLER MECHANISM Filed Oct. 5. 1961 INVENTOR. NENDEL SCHWARTZ United States Patent 3,145,652 AXIALLY RECIPROCATIN G INK RQLLER MECHANISM Mendel Schwartz, Nof Carmel St., Kfar Ata, Israel Filed Oct. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 152,374 2 Claims. (Cl. 101348) This application is a continuation in part of application Serial No. 61,927, filed October 11, 1960, now abandoned.

This invention relates to printing apparatus and is particularly concerned with a printing machine suitable for printing relatively small quantities of small sized blanks or forms, such as for example tags and labels.

Considered from another aspect, the invention is concerned with a novel arrangement for evenly spreading ink between two cooperating revolving inking or printing rollers.

It occurs frequently that merchandise, before being put on the market, has to be provided with a price or the like identification tag, which supplies various information concerning e.g. the qual-tity and nature of the product, its origin, size, price etc. In some instances, the tag constitutes a warrant by the manufacturer to the consumer. Modern business organization has led to the practice frequently to provide such tags with a detachable portion which is removed by the retailer when the sale of the article has been concluded. The detached portion is then returned to the wholesaler or manufacturer who, in accordance with the legends thereon, can furnish a similar item to the retailer. It is clear that such a procedure very much simplifies the administrative processes connected with re-supplying the retailer with the proper goods needed by him. In many cases the price or identification tag is in the form of a punched card, so that the detached portion, when arriving at the source, can be processed there by means of a computer such as e.g. an IBM (registered trademark) machine or the like equipment, which still more simplifies the administrative work and reduces overhead expenses.

It would, of course, be simplest to print the information on such identification tags by ordinary typographical equipment. However, this is not always feasible and economically sound. It will be realized that relatively small numbers of identification tags bearing identical information will often be printed only, as the information will change very frequently. Thus, if identification tags for a lot of, say, 10,000 dresses equally divided between five different sizes and two colors, have to be prepared, with the information on the tags to relate the color and size, ten different tags would have to be printed, but only 1000 tags would bear identical information. Thus, it will be realized that the printing of small quantities of a special type of form or tag does not ordinarily warrant the setting up of the text in ordinary type.

It has been proposed to prepare such price or identification tags by printing a standard form bearing the basic information and filling in the varying particulars by means of a multiplicating or copying machine, which uses a wax stencil. These efforts, however, were not successful and did not lead to practical results, possibly because of the nature of the material (very stiff paper or cardboard) on which price and the like identification tags are printed. Further, due to the small size of these forms or tags they cannot be properly imprinted on the customary stencil machines as the stencil is ordinarily wound on a roller and the paper is applied thereto in a like manner.

In the printing of small forms and blanks it is imperative that the ink supply is steady and uniform, a requiremachines and methods.

The present invention overcomes these drawbacks. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a printing machine which enables the printing of relatively small quantities of small sized tags and the like forms 1n a simple, expedient and inexpensive manner.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a highspeed printing machine particularly suitable for printing small sized forms, which is inexpensive to build, rugged in construction and small in size.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a printing machine for the purposes referred to which has an improved arrangement for evenly and steadily supplying ink to the printing step proper.

Considered from another aspect, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel arrangement for evenly spreading ink between two revolving inking rollers.

A still further object of this invention is generally to improve on printing machines used for printing small sized forms, as hitherto constructed.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.

Briefly, the inventive printing machine comprises a screening frame, reciprocable in a horizontal plane, with a stencil secured to the bottom face of the frame. The frame with the stencil is moved past a printing zone in which ink-supplying means contact the screening frame from above while a pressure roller bears against the stencil from below. A blank to be printed is horizontally advanced adjacent to and simultaneously with the frame into the nip between the stencil and the pressure roller, and feed speed of the blank being substantially equal to that of the frame.

As previously mentioned, an even and steady supply of ink is imperative for successful printing. The inventive printing machine therefore utilizes a novel construction for the ink supply means. This essentially comprises an ingenious arrangement for evenly spreading ink between two revolving inking rollers, the ink being taken off from one of the rollers by an applicator segment which periodically contacts this roller. The arrangement for evenly spreading the ink between the revolving rollers comprises means for axially reciprocating one of the rollers during rotation. According to a preferred embodiment one of the rollers has a greater diameter than the other one.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic representation of the inventive printing machine;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of an ink supply arrangement having means for evenly spreading ink between the inking rollers; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the arrangement of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the inventive printing machine comprises a frame 1 mounted for reciprocating movement in a horizontal plane as indicated by the arrows X. The means for reciprocating the frame 1 may be of any suitable construction well known in the art. A silk or the like textile screen 2 is mounted on the frame 1, the bottom face of the screen 2 carrying a stencil 3, e.g. of wax, which is cut corresponding to the legends to be printed.

The ink supply system of the machine, to be described in detail in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3, comprises an inking roller C, which either revolves in an ink supply box (not shown) or to which ink is manually or otherwise supplied, and a transfer roller B rotating in opposite direction to the roller C, as indicated by the arrows. An

applicator segment or pad 6 is rotatable about an axle 7. During each revolution of the segment 6, it contacts the transfer roller B to receive an ink supply. Segment or pad 6 in its lowermost position contacts the screen 2 and thus applies a quantity of printing ink thereto. A blank, such as a tag 8 to be imprinted is advanced in the feed direction indicated by arrow Y by means of a conveyor which for example may comprise a number of closely juxtaposed rollers 9 so as to be passed underneath the stencil 3. Below the lowermost portion of blank 8 there is provided a pressure roller 10, preferably of a yielding material, the axle 11 of which is springily supported as schematically indicated by the arrow. Of course, the machine is supported by or mounted in a suitable housing or frame (not shown).

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate in detail the ink supply means including the means for evenly spreading the ink between the rollers B and C.

Although there are many conventional solutions of this problem, the assembly here illustrated accomplishes the desired results with a minimum number of moving parts which can be easily disassembled and cleaned.

Equal distribution of the ink is best obtained by allowing one of the rollers to reciprocate continually in an axial direction during operation. In addition, one roll should be made slightly larger than the other so that the same areas of contact are not repeated on each revolution of the rolls.

The reciprocating mechanism, which may be an integral part of the printing device seen in FIG. 1, is shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the setup, a drive wheel A rotates roll B which, in turn, drives the second roll C. Roll A rotates in antifriction bearings which are held in housings D supported freely in slots in machine frame E. Members F and G are leaf-spring segments mounted in diametrically opposed positions on a collar on the shaft of roll B. Two collars H and J are each threaded on one-half of their circumference and relieved on the other half to a diameter less than the minor diameter of the thread. Collars H and J are threaded right-handed and left-handed, respectively, and are mounted side by side on the shaft support roll C. The width of each collar is made equal to the length of the axial stroke to be given roll C by the respective collar.

As roll B revolves, segment F enters the thread on collar H, moving roll C to the right during the period they remain in mesh. Then, as segment G is rotated into the meshing position, the unthreadcd half of the collar is presented to the segment and the roll remains stationary for a period. Later, segment F re-engages collar H and continues moving roll C to the right. This sequence would continue if the rolls were equal in diameter. However, since roll C is slightly larger than roll B, segment G reaches a position where it comes into contact with the threaded part of collar I and moves roll C to the left.

The leaf-spring segments are resilient, so that if they hit the crest of the thread, they are pushed aside. Then, because they are straight and the thread is helical, the segments will slip into proper mesh with the thread after roll B has rotated a few degrees. Due to the alternating blank and threaded surfaces. on collars H and J, roll C is displaced axially in short intermittent strokes. This type of motion is helpful in spreading the ink.

In the particular arrangement shown here, each stroke lasts fourteen revolutions of roll B. The ratio of the roll diameters is 15 to 16, and the length of the axial stroke of roll C is inch or two and one-half times as large as the largest letter to be printed. Each of the collars has an eight-entry thread, the lead of each thread entry measuring /2 inch and the pitch, therefore, being A inch.

The segments displace roll C axially about i.p.r. (which is a little more than the pitch) in order to assure the entry of the segment into the next thread. Consequently, each segment occupies 70 degrees of arc. The effective axial displacement, therefore, measures inch,

and six turns of roll B are required to move roll C /8 inch. During each seventh and eighth turn of roll B, roll C is idle. In operation, the rotational speed of roll B is 230 rpm.

Members K are two identical hook-shaped springs that hold roll C against roll B and thus cause roll B to press firmly against driving wheel A. With this arrangement, the whole assembly can be taken apart simply by removing hooks K. It is unnecessary to adjust the mechanism during assembly, since the arrangement will automatically start the correct cycle after it has been in operation a few revolutions. The operation of the machine is as follows:

The blank 8 to be printed is fed into the machine in the direction of the arrow Y. In practice, the machine may be attached to or form part of a card punching device so that the punched blanks or cards may be supplied directly from the latter. The blank 8 is taken up by the roller conveyor 9 and advanced into the gap or nip between stencil 3 and pressure roller 10. The frame 1 is moved simultaneously in the same direction while the inking pad 6 bears down on the upper side of the screen 2. The timing of the machine cycle is carefully controlled so that the movements and speed of the frame 1, the conveyor 9 and the segment 6 are synchronized to cause the necessary coaction between these elements. The blank advancing between the stencil and roller 10 is thus subjected to pressure by the segment 6 from above and the pressure roller 10 from below. As a consequence, ink from segment 6 penetrating through the screen 2 and the stencil 3 is applied to the upper side of the blank and an imprint is obtained in accordance with the cut of the stencil. While the frame 1 continues its movement toward the right hand side of the machine as viewed in the drawing, the blank is advanced simultaneously due to the feeding action of the rollers 9 and the pressure roller 10, to be taken up by rollers 9 behind the printing zone and to be finally ejected from the machine in the direction of arrow Z. Blank ejecting or stacking means may be provided at the discharge end of the machine as is well known in the art. After the blank has cleared the roller 10, the frame 1 is moved back to its starting position to repeat the cycle with a new blank.

Experience has shown that exceedingly small and even very stiff forms may be properly and accurately printed by the inventive machine at high speed. Thus, the output of the inventive machine is very considerable. To those skilled in the art it will be clear that the machine can easily be attached to a card punching machine and thus imprint previously punched cards. Where price or identification tags are to be printed which have a detachable portion, removable along a perforated line, the perforation across may be provided either during the punching operation or in a separate step after imprinting.

The inventive printing machine may be employed for the printing of any kind of material but is particularly suited for printing small-sized tags.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it should be understood that many changes and alterations may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ink spreading device for use in a printing machine, comprising a first rotatable roller, a second rotatable roller parallel with and contacting said first roller and having a diameter larger than said first roller, collar means mounted on said second roller and having a lefthand and a right-hand threaded surface portion, resilient finger means mounted on said first roller for engagement into the threads of said collar means for axially moving said second roller in one direction when said finger means engage in said left-hand threaded portion and in the opposite direction when said finger means engage in said right-hand threaded portion.

2. An ink spreading device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said finger means comprise two axially spaced fingers extending in diametrically opposed directions, and said collar means include two axially adjacent collars, each of said collars being threaded about one-half of its circumference, while the other half has a diameter less than the smallest diameter of the threaded half, the threads of said adjacent collars extending in opposite directions, and one of said fingers capable of engagement with the thread of one of said collars, while the other finger is capable of engagement with the thread of the other collar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Deeks July 21, 1903 Elliott May 16, 1933 Elliott Jan. 25, 1938 Durham Feb. 25, 1941 Balmer Jan. 27, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS Denmark Sept. 26, 1938 France June 9, 1958 

1. AN INK SPREADING DEVICE FOR USE IN A PRINTING MACHINE, COMPRISING A FIRST ROTATABLE ROLLER, A SECOND ROTATABLE ROLLER PARALLEL WITH AND CONTACTING SAID FIRST ROLLER AND HAVING A DIAMETER LARGER THAN SAID FIRST ROLLER, COLLAR MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID SECOND ROLLER AND HAVING A LEFTHAND AND A RIGHT-HAND THREADED SURFACE PORTION, RESILIENT FINGER MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FIRST ROLLER FOR ENGAGEMENT INTO THE THREADS OF SAID COLLAR MEANS FOR AXIALLY MOVING SAID SECOND ROLLER IN ONE DIRECTION WHEN SAID FINGER MEANS ENGAGE IN SAID LEFT-HAND THREADED PORTION AND IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION WHEN SAID FINGER MEANS ENGAGE IN SAID RIGHT-HAND THREADED PORTION. 